Media Insultant
Keith Samuels and Jackson Weaver, two media executives opine on all things media - radio, TV, cable, print, and digital. Both have long careers in radio, TV, digital and print and are not short on opinions in this tumultuous time. All opinions are theirs but happy to hear yours too! Video version available on Vimeo. New episodes each Wednesday. jackson@intownmedia.com and www.intownmedia.com
Episodes
265 episodes
Media Insultant - 6.11.25 - Emmis in New York. Cox leaving their roots. Meta is all in on AI for your next commercial campaign. CBS TV problems continue.
BOYS WILL BE BOYS…THAT MAY BE TRUE BUT IT COSTS CBS MILLIONS. (2:55)META SAYS, WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING CREATIVES! (13:07)COX FURTHER RETREATS FROM IT’S ROOTS AS A MEDIA POWERHOUSE (17:50)OW I...
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Season 6
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Episode 262
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22:51
Media Insultant - 6.4.25 - Cox takes a late train out of Tulsa. Byron Allen puts stations on the block. And Jeff Warshaw is pissed!
TULSA IS AN OIL TOWN THAT MORE THAN 200 SONGS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT…BUT THAT’S NOT ENOUGH FOR COX TO STAY IN TOWN…(12:31)THE DEBT BOOGIE MAN HAS COME CALLING ON BYRON ALLEN…HE’S NOT BUYING PARAMOUNT OR ABC…HE’S BECOME A SELLE...
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Season 6
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Episode 261
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24:27
Media Insultant - 5.28.25 - Delilah gives her heart, but it's not enough. We look at the new Alpha merger deal. AI Ashley goes to weekends and Wendy McMahan jumps ship at CBS.
KDUN IS HANDED BACK TO THE FCC (3:07)WHOOPS. OUR MEMORIES ARE OVERLOADED AND WE HAVE A MISTAKE TO CORRECT… (5:27)THE DEAL BEHIND THE DEAL OF THE YEAR. (6:57).AI ASHLEY HAS BEEN RIFFED! (11:50)<...
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Season 6
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Episode 260
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22:33
Media Insultant - 5.14.24 - We bring in Ed Steenman to discuss how media sales people can thrive in the choas that is the car business today.
We break format today...bringing in our Auto Insultant, Mr. Ed Steenman. Ed owns an ad agency, Steenman & Associates, in Seattle handling Tier 2 and Tier 3 auto clients. With the chaos around tariffs impacting the automobi...
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19:28
Media Insultant - 5.7.25 Alpha/Connisseur make a deal! And what's the deal at Westwood One?
THE WIZARD OF WESTPORT STRIKES AGAIN…(1:10)WESTWOOOD ONE - HOW MUCH LONGER WILL THEY HANG ON? (21:50)WELCOME TO the podcast focused on radio TV and OCCASIONALLY digital… - ……in the Coachella Valley from the cit...
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Season 6
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Episode 258
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28:41
Media Insultant - 4.30.25 Why is ESPN ditching baseball? How long is Cumulus going to be around? Good news for radio...with a caveat!
ESPN IS DITCHING MLB BASEBALL COVERAGE…IS THERE A BETTER DEAL TO BE HAD?SOME GOOD NEWS FOR OUR RADIO FRIENDS…JUST DON’T READ THE FINE PRINT…CUMULUS IS DELISTED…HOW MUCH LONGER CAN THEY HANG ON?Good morn...
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Season 6
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Episode 257
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24:08
Media Insultant 4.23.25 - NextGen is fading fast. Business retention is suddenly a big deal! And what can Tik Toc teach radio about ad placement?
A REAL BLOW TO THE NEXT GEN TV ADVOCATES…(8:47)FEELING A LITTLE LIKE YOU’RE ON THE TITANTIC…? STAYING AFLOAT (19:53)CAN WE LEARN SOMETHING FROM INSTA AND TIKTOC IN HOW WE HANDLE SPOTS? (13:54)WELCOME TO...
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Season 6
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Episode 256
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27:06
Media Insultant 4.16.24 _ Bitch about Nielsen, local TV news is shrinking, and the timing of changes in the Midwest.
THE AMAZING SHRINKING LOCAL TV NEWS OPERATIONS….(8:55)MORE CHANGES IN THE MIDWEST IHEART CHANGES MANAGEMENT (17:05)SUDDENLY - WE GET A SENSE OF DEJA VU…IT’S 1977 AND RADIO COMPLAINS ABOUT NIELSEN…(2:05)...
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Season 6
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Episode 255
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24:21
Media Insultant - 4.9.25 - No sale for radio dot com. Nielsens' new minumum listening levels. Sales idea - sue your clients! And fewer radio stations on the air.
RADIO.COM NO SALE (3:00)3 MINUTE LISTENING PERIODS - JUST A WAY TO KEEP NIELSEN’S RADIO CLIENTS HAPPY…OR SERIOUS IMPROVEMENT…? (8;45)BYRON ALLEN MAY HAVE LEARNED A LESSON…MAYBE? (5:25)MO...
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Season 6
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Episode 254
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22:54
Media Insultant - 4.2.25 - All of Cox stations for sale. Duh! Stephen;s fire sales a cluster and Payola is back!
PAYOLA IS BACK (13:00)CMG IS FOR SALE. SO…WHAT ELSE IS NEW? (4:10)SMG - STEPHENS MEDIA - SELLS 4 STATIONS FOR WHAT…? (10:47)Welcome to the only podcast/video blog that talks about all ki...
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Season 6
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Episode 253
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20:40
We're back! Media Insultant 3.26.25 Saga, Audacy AND the Mystery Man!
THE DRAMA AT SAGA CONTINUES TO HEAT UP…(7:02)NO SURPRISES…AUDACY IS A BANK PLAY NOW…(14:30)WHO’S THE MYSTERY BUYER IN HAWAII…? (21:03)Welcome to the only podcast/video blog that talks about all kind...
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Season 6
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Episode 252
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27:27
Media Insultant - 12.18.24 Our annual Christmas poem will make you smile if you love the broadcasting business!
For several years we've featured Tony Bollen - our own Poet Laureate - delivering his holiday message for media folks. It always warms your hardened CPP and RFP hearts to hear Tony get to the core of why "Eugene" will be successful! ...
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Season 5
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Episode 251
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9:27
Media Insultant - 12.11.24 - Muffy! What's with Yacht Rock? (1:25) Google losing share? (4;30) What does the new FCC Commish mean for M&A? (9;58) Keith thinks sports on TV is still safe? (16:05)
WHAT MUSIC ARE YOU PLAYING ON YOUR YACHT? (1:25)GOOGLE IS LOSING IT’S GRIP ON SEARCH (4:30)WILL THE NEW FCC COMMISSIONER OPEN UP M&A DEALS? ( (9:58)IS SPORTS STILL THE BACKBONE OF LOCAL TELEVISIO...
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Season 5
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Episode 250
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23:44
Media Insultant - 12.4.24 - More terminations and management consolodation. Format flips may not work today. Who were YOUR mentors?
AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN’!! (15:52)DOES A NEW FORMAT WORK? HUBBARD TRIES IT IN SEATTLE. (10:11)WHO WERE YOUR MENTORS? (1:35)Welcome to the only podcast/video blog that talks about all kinds...
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Season 5
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Episode 249
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24:58
Media Insultant 11.20.24 - BOGO on radio stations? Is AI ready tor prime time with radio? Why would NBCU want to sell their valuable cable assets?
NBC IS INTERESTED IN SHEDDING THEIR CABLE NETS. OR ARE THEY? (4:16)ROCKIN’ DENVER WITH AI! AUDACY IS ALL IN WITH AI. WHAT DO WE THINK (7:45)IT MAY BE THE BEST TIME TO BUY A RADIO STATION! (15:38)...
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Season 5
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Episode 248
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22:03
Media Insultant 11.13.24 - Did political save Q3? More 'terminations" at iHeart. Is 2025 going to be that bad? New RAB board members may not be there for long.
KEITH TAKES A SHOT AT RAB BOARD MEMBERS WHO WON’T SERVE OUT THEIR TERM (11:54)ALL THOSE POLITICAL DOLLARS WERE THERE. DID IT HELP IN Q3? (6:43)EVERYONE MUST THINK 2025 IS GOING TO BE ROUGH. THE FIRINGS...
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Season 5
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Episode 247
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20:01
Media Insultant 11.6.24 - No more Action News...it's all Neighborhood News for Scripps. X is a joke. The World Series ratings are in. And Remote News Service is the future of radio news!
DOES SCRIPPS HAVE NEW FUTURE FOR LOCAL TV NEWS? (4;23))HOW WERE THE RATING FOR THE CROSS COUNTRY WORLD SERIES? (11:00)IS X NOW JUST A JOKE? (13:40)REMOTE NEWS SERVICE PICKS UP 3 IN SEATTLE. (20...
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Season 5
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Episode 246
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22:05
Media Insultant 10.30.24 - Will the World Series be a hit for Fox? Radio towers aren't supposed to fall down! And more people moves.
RIP TONY VENTRELLA. YOU ROCKED YOUR TIME HERE! (1:10)FOX>SINCLAIR>DIAMOND>BALLY…TO…? (11:25)RADIO TOWERS SEEM TO BE FALLING ALL OVER THE PLACE! (5:20)PERSONNEL MOVES AGAIN….(21:15)...
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Season 5
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Episode 245
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24:54
Media Insultant 10.23.24 Nielsen gives radio a kiss...or not. Going to prison for what was said on the radio. And the coutnry battle rages anew in Seattle.
COUNTRY BATTLE IN SEATTLE RESUMES (5:00)MAGICALLY - RADIO HAS 40% MORE LISTENERS. REALLY? (9:40)A LIFETIME PRISON SENTENCE…FOR WHAT WAS SAID ON THE RADIO (16:00)Welcome to the only podcast/video b...
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Season 5
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Episode 244
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21:23
Media Insultant 10.16.24 - We explain our hiatus plus some comments on what we missed.
Welcome to the only podcast/video blog that talks about all kinds of media…and the impact on local sales and management. Two media execs, Jackson Weaver and Keith Samuels do this each Wednesday...
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Season 4
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Episode 243
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29:16
MEDIA INSULTANT - 9.11.24 - Emma debuts and we cringe! TV continues to head for the cliff and is Local Media in free fall?
EMMA IS CRINGEWORTHY? (4:55)TV GROUP REVENUE SHOWS THE WEAKNESS IN THE MODEL (10:40)LOCAL MEDIA IN FREE FALL OR CHICKEN LITTLE? (16:00)Welcome to the only podcast/video blog that talks about all kinds o...
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Season 5
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Episode 242
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23:03
Media Insultant - 9.4.24 - TJ makes it to the Big Apple. Wanna buy a TV station? Black sports radio fails in Detroit and Runwaway Radio brings back a better day.
TJ MAKES IT TO THE BIG TIME (1:12)PARAMOUNT MAY DUMP MAJOR TV STATIONS (6:55)BLACK SPORTS IN DETROIT DIES A QUICK DEATH (14:22)RUNAWAY RADIO IS GREAT! (19:35)Welcome to the only podcast/vi...
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Season 5
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Episode 241
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26:04
MEDIA INSULTANT - 8.21.24 - Jimi Hendrix just wanted to play! Four FM stations in Phoenix for $3.5M? More downsizing...ad infinitum.
JIMI HENDRIX JUST WANTED TO STAND IN THE BACK…AND PAT O’DAY LET HIM. (13:40)JEFF TRUMPER SELLS HIS 4 STATION CLUSTER…BUT THE PRICE? (3:35)DOWNSIZE…AGAIN AND AGAIN. (16:00)Welcome to the only podca...
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Season 5
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Episode 240
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23:30
Media Insultant - 8.14.24 - Bye bye WCBS. Radio's Q2 is more of the same. And the FOR SALE sign on WEPN is getting tattered.
AMERICA’S ORIGINAL ALL-NEWS STATION IS GONE. (1:55)SECOND QUARTER IS LESS THAN THRILLING (17:55)WHY IS EMMIS’ WEPN STILL ON THE MARKET? (11:03)Welcome to the only podcast/video blog that talks about all...
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Season 5
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Episode 239
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24:58
Media Insultant - 8.7.24 - Olympics killing it on Peacock. Tough duty in Bagdad-By-The-Bay. And Redbox goes dark.
ARE TV GM JOBS BECOMING MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? (7:40)ARE OTT PLATFORMS GO DARK. (5:22)THE OLYMPICS ON PEACOCK ARE A HIT,,,,? (15:25)Welcome to the only podcast/video blog that talks about all kinds of medi...
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Season 5
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Episode 238
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22:16